UFC president Dana White plans to arrange a rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen as soon as possible, after Sonnen issued the middleweight champion a stunning challenge at UFC 136.

Sonnen utterly dominated Brian Stann to announce his return from suspension in Houston, and then he instantly called out champion Silva. The pair's first battle saw Sonnen go within two minutes of beating Silva, only to get locked in a desperate late submission attempt.

"Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck," Sonnen yelled from the Octagon at UFC 136 towards the champion, who was sat in the front row.

"Super Bowl weekend, the biggest rematch in the history of the business. I'm calling you out Silva, but we're upping the stakes. I beat you, you leave the division. You beat me, I will leave the UFC forever."

White was later asked if he might use the Silva v Sonnen rivalry to fuel the next season of The Ultimate Fighter, but the president is far too keen to get the pair in the Octagon, as soon as Silva's shoulder has recovered from injury.

"Those guys really don't like each other," White said, according to USA Today. "Anderson, I don't know if any of you saw his face when [Chael] won, but he wasn't doing the whole joking around thing. He was pissed and he's really upset about the whole smacking his wife on the butt thing and cook him dinner. He's really upset about it. He's really pissed about it.

"I don't like to commit to anything the night of the fight. But yeah, I'd be pretty stupid if I don't make that fight. I want that fight to happen ASAP. They won't be coaching."